Like this one?
That’s actually kind of beautiful, Barton. I’ll save the picture for future reference, but I was thinking something with a little more…I don’t know, flair? like this one Pepper sent me.
Holy crap, you’d be like a toothpick sticking out of a cupcake!
… a very beautiful toothpick.
Thanks, Jane. You’re coming to the wedding, right?
Absolutely! Thor will be, too. He loves any reason for celebration, and he’ll especially love this.
Like this one?
That’s actually kind of beautiful, Barton. I’ll save the picture for future reference, but I was thinking something with a little more…I don’t know, flair? like this one Pepper sent me.
Holy crap, you’d be like a toothpick sticking out of a cupcake!
… a very beautiful toothpick.
Jane was only slightly surprised to find that Natasha had waited for her outside of the classroom, but pleasantly so. She smiled brightly and walked along next to her down the hallway.“I don’t have the same class as you next, but I can show you where it is, if you want,” she offered. She had AP calculus. While showing Natasha to her room might make her late, she’d have a really good excuse. Besides, the teacher sort of loved her, anyway.
Sometimes it paid to get all of the good grades.
“Sure, okay,” nodded Natasha. She pulled out her phone to check and saw that Ivan had already texted, asking about her day, and deleted the message without answering. Stupid Ivan. Stupid new school. Stupid nice people making her start to like the place on the first day. “I have art with Rogers. I hate art class.” Her lip curled into a pout.
“I’m pretty sure everyone who isn’t an artist hates art,” Jane observed with a shrug. “But Rogers is cool. And he’s super nice. He’ll make it tolerable, at the very least. And he’s not one of those art teachers who only likes the good artists in the class. As long as you put effort into it, he’ll love it.”
At least the school had mostly decent teachers.
Clint thinks about it for a moment. “Next time, tape it and submit it to America’s Funniest Home Videos. I’m pretty sure you could make a pile off of that!”
He blushed more than he hoped he would. “Yeah, I uh…” He looked at Jane. “I get the feeling I know what it’s like for you an’ Thor and…jus’…y’know that feelin’ y’get when you look at ‘em and you just can’t decide whether you want to hold ‘em, have sex or slow dance with ‘em?” Clint let out an exhale. “I jus’…I get stupid around her an’ she’s willing to put up with it…that’s how I knew she’d…well, I assumed she might be ok with this.”
Jane smiled brightly and nodded. She knew exactly what he meant. “I’m glad you two have each other,” she said. Everyone needed someone to keep them from going insane. Although in Clint and Natasha’s case, it was probably more along the lines of needing someone to save their ass when they were too proud to ask for help.
“I think there’s a special place in her heart for all of the stupid things you do.” She smirked and started looking for wine glasses in the cabinets. “Are you guys gonna have a big wedding, do you think?”
Jane knew her own wedding would be huge and ridiculous, but she was looking forward to that more than she had been before. It just took some time to get used to.
“No, no, no, no.” He shook his head. “Nat’s had a few already and she hates the idea of planning this one. I practically picked her dress out.” He chuckles. “I just…I want to marry her. I don’t care if she wants to wear a bikini and do it on the beach or in a church with the world watching, I just want her to be my lady for all the times.”
Clint laughed. “If you’d told me I’d say something like that, I would have gagged back in the day.”
He didn’t envy Jane’s position as the princess and then queen-to-be of Asgard, especially since she didn’t have the thousands of years of preparation that someone like Thor, or even Loki, had.
“Sides, I think a small party where we can all cut loose’ll be awesome.”
“I don’t think anyone will blame you for something small,” Jane nodded and poured them both a glass of wine. “Except maybe Tony, but y’know. That’s Tony for you.”
She picked up her glass and raised it. “To you and Natasha’s happiness.” Tapping her glass lightly against Clint’s, she took a sip before leaning back against the counter again.
“I feel like we don’t have enough parties to deal with all of the crap that goes on around here. Everything’s all business and craziness without anybody actually relaxing.” She frowned slightly and took another sip of wine. “I mean, that’s why I went back to New Mexico. It was too much. I don’t know how you guys do it.”
Natasha rolled her eyes before turning back to face front. Yeah, saying she was a lesbian would get them off her back, but for all the wrong reasons. They shouldn’t be on her back in the first place, and they shouldn’t be labeling her or trying to label her, they should just leave her alone!
The moment class was over she had her bag slung over one shoulder and was stalking out, but outside the classroom door she paused and turned back to wait for Jane. Should she wait for Jane? Probably not. Probably she should have just kept going and going until no one bothered her anymore. But Jane was nice to her, and despite herself she liked her.
Jane was only slightly surprised to find that Natasha had waited for her outside of the classroom, but pleasantly so. She smiled brightly and walked along next to her down the hallway.
“I don’t have the same class as you next, but I can show you where it is, if you want,” she offered. She had AP calculus. While showing Natasha to her room might make her late, she’d have a really good excuse. Besides, the teacher sort of loved her, anyway.
Sometimes it paid to get all of the good grades.
“I’ve never taken time to let wine breathe. Maybe it’d taste better that way.” Jane was an incredible bachelorette when she wanted to be, drinking enough wine to make Dionysus jealous. She hopped up to sit on the counter in the meantime.
“Oh, you can definitely have a front row seat. I think he likes he audience. At least, he does when he’s doing something right. When he’s doing it wrong he just kind of frowns and asks why things in this realm are so complicated.” She snickered. “You should’ve seen his reaction to the stove when I showed him how to turn it on.”
It had been amusing as hell, that was for sure. She looked at Clint and smiled. “So, getting married, huh? Look at you, the fiance.” Her smile widened into a grin.
Clint thinks about it for a moment. “Next time, tape it and submit it to America’s Funniest Home Videos. I’m pretty sure you could make a pile off of that!”
He blushed more than he hoped he would. “Yeah, I uh…” He looked at Jane. “I get the feeling I know what it’s like for you an’ Thor and…jus’…y’know that feelin’ y’get when you look at ‘em and you just can’t decide whether you want to hold ‘em, have sex or slow dance with ‘em?” Clint let out an exhale. “I jus’…I get stupid around her an’ she’s willing to put up with it…that’s how I knew she’d…well, I assumed she might be ok with this.”
Jane smiled brightly and nodded. She knew exactly what he meant. “I’m glad you two have each other,” she said. Everyone needed someone to keep them from going insane. Although in Clint and Natasha’s case, it was probably more along the lines of needing someone to save their ass when they were too proud to ask for help.
“I think there’s a special place in her heart for all of the stupid things you do.” She smirked and started looking for wine glasses in the cabinets. “Are you guys gonna have a big wedding, do you think?”
Jane knew her own wedding would be huge and ridiculous, but she was looking forward to that more than she had been before. It just took some time to get used to.
Jane isn’t quite sure how to react to it. She stares at it for several long moments, then swallows thickly and looks away. She’s cried over it too much, and she knows that crying will get her nowhere.
Still, she wipes her eyes and moves on with her day.
This… could hurt.
i want this, but i don’t want the pain
((OMFG THIS WILL HURT
Natasha made a face. “Thor?” she echoed incredulously, then shook her head. People these days and giving their kids weird names. “Well, what your dad doesn’t know can’t hurt him, right? It’s my policy with Ivan.”
Then, at the mention of boys chasing after her, Natasha made an even more distasteful face. “I’m not really…looking for a boyfriend, right now,” she frowned and started chewing on her cuticles. There were dark half-moon scabs at the base of every long nail from similar treatment. She peered over her shoulder at a group of boys laughing rudely in the corner with trepidation.
Oh, no, what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, but it’d sure as hell hurt he when he found out. Because he would. Jane’s father made a habit of finding out things she wanted to hide from him, so eventually, she’d stopped trying to hide things.
“Well, even if you’re not looking for one, they’ll be looking for you,” Jane said with a bit of a frown. “They’re not all terrible. There are some really nice guys who go here, they’re just… few and far between.”
She looked up when the teacher announced they were finished with group work, then looked at Natasha again.
“You could always just tell everyone you’re gay. That’d keep the guys off of you.” She grinned before moving her desk back to its original position.
